The Current - A horseback journey the length of the Americas

Episode Date: May 13, 2026

30 year-old Olivia Cazes, from the small town of Armagh, Quebec, started her 26,000 journey from the southern tip of Argentina, to Alaska. She is traveling along the Pan-American highway with her four horses; Caciqué. Bonsaï, Milo and Bigoté. Olivia shares her experience so far, traveling from the "Fin del Mundo", the southern tip of South America, to Buenos Aires.

You know that feeling when you reach the end of a really good true crime series? You want to know more, more about the people involved, where the case is now, and what it's like behind the scenes. I get that. I'm Kathleen Goldhar and on my podcast crime story, I speak with the leading storytellers of true crime to dig deeper into the cases we all just can't stop thinking about. Find crime story wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and this is the current podcast. That's the soundtrack to Olivia Kaz's life.

The 30-year-old Canadian is hoping to do something very few others have done, travel, the whole length of the Americas, from the southern tip of Argentina, all the way up to Alaska, on horseback. She started out last year, thinks she might be on the road for at least half a decade or more, and we have reached Olivia Kaz in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Tina, Olivia, hi. Hi, how are you? I'm well, how are you?

I'm fine. Thank you. Why would you do this? This is a 26,000 kilometer long trip. If you drove in a car, it would take you a month. If you flew in a plane, it would take you 26 hours, and you're going to do this on horseback. Why would you do this? Well, there's a lot of reasons.

Why would I do that trip in the beginning? Because, yeah, a month in the car, a couple of years in a bike as well. It's a lot of kilometers. It's a way of traveling that is very different from flying on a plane because you get to see pretty much everything. We're traveling at four kilometers an hour. So it's a way of slow traveling and taking time to discover, well, landscapes, people, and culture. I want to talk about some of the things that you have seen. But where did the idea for this come from?

What led you, was there a moment or a spark that led you to think this would be a good idea? It was not that much of us park, so it was a buildup, more or less. I've always been very interested in culture and meeting people while traveling. So I studied in anthropology at the university in Quebec. And then I started to travel between my bachelor degree and my master degree. I travel for, well, for studies in Argentina. And I really started to appreciate the plurality of people, the culture. and I was born and raised on a horse breeding in stable,

so I was always very close to horses. And it's just, I don't know, it built up as an idea. What if I could travel around the Americas while knowing people, while knowing horse culture, horse people, and then it's just how, and then horses just showed me the way. How do you prepare for something like this? Physically, you need to be in shape. I'm not a professional athlete, but I've always been very active.

You need to be, well, to know about horses, of course, because they're not just a mean of transportation. They're companions. They have mind of their own. They have health issues. And while the gear is something very different from a backpack or any other kind of packs in gear. And then, well, you need to be ready to live a cultural shock

and, well, it helped to speak Spanish. That helps too, yeah. Tell me about your horses. What do you love about horses? You grew up, as you said, on a farm. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So they always been by my side. Well, I grew up with horses, dogs, cats, everything.

So I always say to everybody that I was sitting on a horse before learning to walk. So it's just part of me and their presence, their energy, the way we share life with them as a human being is something very meaningful for me. So choosing to travel with them, choosing to live my life, and I take care of them, but they take care of me. So it's always a co-dependence, a relationship between me and them. It's not like a vehicle, a bicycle, or it's not mechanical. They're sentient. They're conscious being.

They take decisions and they have bad days and good days. They feel hunger and pain. It's a relationship in itself. Who is out on the road with you? How many horses do you have? At the moment, I'm training with four horses. I started with two in Usuea, in Bego, where I started the trip last year. And then I went buying a third one so I could do a rotation because there's always one having to carry the saddle, my saddle, and then another one carrying the gear.

And then I got a third one right now. So there's always one that got nothing on his back. And then there's a fourth horse at the moment because I was accompanied in the last few months by my mom. mom. So she had her own horse. You said they have good days and bad days. How do you predict what you're going to be able to do? As you said, it's not like riding a bicycle where you just get on the bike and away you go. The horse has to decide in some ways that it wants to do this as well. And so what has that been like? Well, every day is different. Of course, we do more or less 20 to 25 kilometers a day, but sometimes it's a week of 10 kilometers a day, sometimes it's a couple days of 30.

You can really plan, okay, we ride four days and then we stop for two days or something like that. You just go with the flow, you go with how the horses are. If you feel like, yeah, they've had a bad night, you can feel it. And you can know it. If they didn't have enough food or good water, you will have to do less kilograms. because they're athletes as well. They need to have good food in their belly because they work all day.

After the night, you just go on packing the gear and the moment we get on the saddle, the mission is just finding food water in a good camp spot for the next night. Describe the route that you are on. Well, landscape and climate-wise, in Patagonia, we were in an arctic desert, so it was cold and flat.

and very dry. Not a lot of feed for the horses, not a lot of the water. In the last month, we were in the province that's called La Pampa. A lot more feed, but there's no natural running water anywhere. They got no rivers. They got no creek. And then the lakes, they're salty.

So it was another challenge. We need really, every time we wanted water, It had to be rainwater or ask people to give water for the horses. And we did a part in the mountains in the Andes a couple months ago, so cold. But a lot of feet in water. So there's always, we always measure, well, the landscapes, of course, as a human being, we appreciate the landscapes and the experience. But it's always in terms of if a place is good or bad,

it's in terms of feed and water for the horses. And you were saying you're going about four kilometers an hour, and this is at its heart a kind of slow travel. So what are you seeing on horseback that you wouldn't see if you were zipping along in a car or in a train or in an airplane? Well, you see pretty much everything, Matt. You see every rock, every animal, every trees, plants, people. there's always something to see.

Yes, you want to finish your day and have, I don't know, do your 20 kilometers or you have a place in mind that you saw on a map. But it's always taking, having the time to just stop and listen, stop and watch, stop and meet animal, meet people. So it's just that, that rhythm, you just get into it and is very mindful

and it's very in the present and yeah, you take the time to absorb. I was going to say it sounds really meditative. Like you're right there in that moment, kind of going through that space. Exactly, it is. You've said that the silences are amazing. What does it sound like? Because you're the only person.

You mentioned your mom is along, and I'll ask you about that in a moment, but you're the only person that's out there. So what does it sound like? There's always animals and wind and everything, but it feels like, so when you're in the middle of nowhere, and you just see the sunrise, it happened to me a couple of times, you feel like the sun is rising and you're the only person in the world that is rising for. You're the only person in the world that is seeing it at the moment as it is and appreciating it.

And you know that people all over the world are just going on with their day or the night. But at that moment, you just feel like that moment, that place, that second is just you're there and you're existing with the sun, with your horses, with nature, it's very grounding. Do you feel safe in doing this? I ask you just because you're out there by yourself. And to your point, you could be in the middle of nowhere. And we hope you're safe and we want you to be safe. But the world can be a dangerous place too. When I'm in the middle of nowhere is a place where I feel the safest.

It's always when I'm getting close to towns, cities, but it's not about not being feeling safe. It's just being cautious. In Argentina, I've rarely not felt safe. People are very inspired by what I'm doing and respectful. Always to a certain point, like, I'm a woman, I'm traveling alone. I need to be conscious and comfort. But mostly I felt safe. And more than anything, I don't feel fear that much.

The worries moments are when my horses are not feeling good or if they're sick or everything. So the moment I feel scared is or not safe is when they're not willing good health and they're not safe. Hi there. Steve Patterson here, host of the debaters, the show that's part stand-up, part-quiz, and all comedy. We take on the most debatable questions like, is Mother's Day superior to Father's Day? Mother's day is coming right up, so you've got to remember the moms in your life and listen to this week's episode of the debaters wherever you get your podcasts. How do you think about that? Because it's not as though it's just you walking this 26,000 kilometer long trail. You have these animals that you are responsible for as well.

So how do you think about that responsibility? It's one I never had before. I don't have kids. I don't have a house. I was, I always been by myself, traveling, working, studying while going on with my life. Well, all my life I had animals, dogs, cats, horses. It's different when we're in the middle of nowhere. Every actions you do, everything you do when you tie your horse for the night, when you give them water, when you take a about if you stop there to give them a little bit of feed before keeping going. Every decision is weighted because, well, horses, they're recognized as a sensitive animal to changes and to lack of feed in water. So it's very, very important. Their needs are very important. So it's a big responsibility.

I've been following you on social media, on Instagram, and you post about some of the people that you encounter. Tell me about that and how people react when they see you and the horses walking down the road or walking into town. It calls attention. It calls interest in curiosity because people, so I'm a tall, blonde girl on a horse. So I'm a girl, I'm a woman. I'm riding my horses. That's not that common here. I'm on the side of the road with my horse packed. So they see that I got all my life with me. Yeah, the guess that I'm traveling a long way. So mostly they just stop and they ask about if we're all right, what are we doing there?

Most of them say, what a crazy trip, what you're doing. It's always a very good energy they bring to the table. They are always open and asking if we need anything. And if their place is closed, they are offering us a place the night, feed for the horses, water, food for us. And it's just very welcoming. People are very, very welcoming. Who have you met that stands out to you? Is there one person on this ride so far that you have met that speaks to that? Having traveled for a year, it's hard to just pinpoint one person, but a couple months ago, we come into a town, a very big town with lots of

cars and it's always harder for me and the horses to get into these towns because there's not much space for them and if we camp on the side of the road a lot of people are seeing us and that's where as we were talking earlier I don't feel as safe because people can see the horses at night and they just tied the horses there so they could just come and take them if they wanted so we come into this big town and I didn't have signal service service service for 10 days prior to that so I couldn't I didn't ask nobody in my contacts if they knew of a place. So it's 4 p.m. and then we're in the middle of that town. And it's just we don't know where we're going to spend the night.

And it's stressful because we can't just camp on a side of the road, right? So I get one friend that is at the other end of the country. And I just tell him about our situation. And it just found me in contact, a friend, someone no, not even a friend, that has a place and she called me then and she's just like you can come and we can you can spend some time with us and no problem about that but then it's a big like it's 30 kilometers more it's 4 p.m so we can't make it and she just said well I got a trailer I can trailer you from from where you are to my place and then when you're ready to go back on your trip I can trail you back to the

exact point where you where you're at the moment you'd never met this person before Never. And they welcomed us in their house for 10 days. So us, my mom and I, in their house for 10 days and the horses were there. And we just, the only thing we had to do is buy some feed for the horses, buy some hay. Things like that happens all the time. People you don't know just open their houses to you, their homes and their family. And it's just so, so generous. And so people are, are shared a lot. here and they're very welcoming and I feel like there's people like that everywhere but it's just the concentration of people that are like that here is just it amazes me and it's about the situation I'm in as well I know but people are just they don't think it twice they just help us what was it like having your mom with you at on the road you say in English like it's a core memory it's just we created something there so I'm 30 years old I've lived all my life very close to my mom. Sometimes not that close, but I came and go, but I always had my horses at their

place, so we'd always been in contact. But my mom, before having kids and she had four, wanted, she had planned a life for herself that was very much similar to the one I'm living right now for myself. But then she had kids, and well, she always felt that she didn't go through her dreams of doing what I'm doing, traveling on horseback and meeting people and learning about worlds and culture and society. So I know that what we did together in the last four months was doing something she had dreamed about for the last, I don't know, 30 something years and more. So it's very meaningful. I'm proud to be the to be the person that made that possible for her. And And I'm very proud of my mom.

She's 53 years old and she came camping and washing her clothes in the river and just horseback riding. Well, she works with horses. It's her job and it's her daily life. But being on horseback five to six hours a day and more and just going with that flow, but never, never knowing where to go, never knowing where we are going to camp and just going, I don't know, problem solving while the day is going. It's just, she did very well, and I'm proud of her and I'm proud of us too. I've been able to, well, we've been able to do that four months without major problems.

So I feel like it proved ourselves a lot of things in a relationship and about the horses, and she had a lot of preoccupation about going on that trip with me, but it was just nothing's perfect, but if something would have been perfect, that would have been it. How do you think you're different, having been out on the road for a year or so? Different from everybody else, I'm not, but different from myself, the person I was last year, I speak a lot more for myself and my horses.

like I've always been someone that doesn't want to bother people, doesn't want to ask for a thing, is very independent, but because I'm not scared, but I don't want to ask for help. I've always learned that you should be able to solve your own problems and that you chose to be in a situation where you are at the moment and you solve your own problems.

So I've learned to be much more resourceful in situations that I, I would be, last year I would have, I know, panicked about. But at the same time, I've learned to ask for help when I'm into problem solving. I see how my process is different that it was from last year. I'm much, much more confident in myself, in my horses. I've always had that imposter syndrome. Someone could be better than me at that. So I would just, I don't know, step aside.

but I've learned to take my place in the world and to be confident in my capacities. That speaks to, you said something to the Globe and Mail about this, that you want to do, you want to inspire women to get out there to fight fear and social expectations around extreme sports and adventure. You feel like you're doing that, that you're taking up that space and kind of doing the thing that you want to do. I'm kind of, I'm very self-conscious about saying that, that I want to inspire. because I just, I don't want to feel that, I don't want to be pretentious about that

because I don't feel like I'm someone different from the person next door. I just made the decisions that got me where I'm at the moment, but it's just, it's a step-by-step. So my first travel was with my family and then I did one trip in Europe, in the same. cities of Europe with my backpack. So I'm just, I had a process. It didn't came all like that by itself. But what made me say that to the glowing male is that I do feel the difference between being a man and a woman in these kinds, like in adventure and extreme sport traveling. well, yeah, adventure-centered travels because I traveled with a man last year

and I see the difference and I want to point it out and I want it to be known by everybody but men and women and people from everywhere but I want us to acknowledge it but I want us as women to understand that we can, it is hard, it is challenging but we can go over it.

We can beat that. And even though society 80 was not made for us. And these things, adventures and extreme sports weren't made, humanly made for us. We need to take that space. You feel good about the road ahead of you? I do. I feel like I'm, yeah, I'm building the life I'm always dreamed about.

I hope we have the chance to talk again as this continues. There's a guy called Paul Salopac who is, he's walking around the world. And every so often we check in with him to see how he's doing. I hope we have the chance to check in with you as this trip continues. That would be amazing. I feel like, yeah, it's just beginning. So while we mostly hear about trips when they're done,

but I feel like this is a process and it would be nice to see how it goes. We'll be in touch. Stay safe. Have fun. You're doing something that I think a lot of people would dream of in terms of being out there in the world and being present in that moment. And I'm glad to talk to you as this trip gets underway.

Olivia, thank you very much. Thank you, Matt, for receiving me and will permit me to talk about my dream and to maybe inspire someone to take a step towards their own. Thanks again. Quebec's Olivia Kaz is traveling on horseback along the length of the Americas from the tip of Argentina

all the way up to Alaska. You've been listening to the current podcast. My name is Matt Gallagher. away. Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you soon. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca.ca slash podcasts.